I'll get to what I've been up to in a moment. First I'll explain where my head is at.
I've heard about this "two month blues" before. I've experience culture shock so now it's on to the next traveler's disease. Basically it's when someone has been on the road for about two months and starts to get tired, bummed-out and lonely. Today is day 61 for me... my two month travel anniversary.
I'm still very happy to be traveling and it beats the alternative of sitting at a computer indoors all day (come to think of it, maybe that's why I hate updating my blog!). It's just tough since I have been away from family and close friends. Making new friends along the way has been great and I plan to keep in touch but they've all gone off on their way. So I'm usually alone when I see the sights. I often think of some dumb shit I could do if I had a partner but alone my plans would not work out. Mind you, it's a different kind of experience alone so I would miss out on other things if I were part of a pair. You dig?
On the bus back from my day's excursion I got all introspective and such. Started making lists of what I definitely want, what I can do if I have time to squeeze it in and what I do not want from life. I'm not much closer to a solution as far as the career goes but I have made some other pretty big "decisions" about more personal issues. I won't go into them here seeing how flighty I can be. I hate to say one thing and change my mind the next day. This is my two-month anniversary so I may just be in a strange mindset.
Okay, so that's where I'm at mentally in a nutshell. On to what I've been up to, also in my digressingly-nutshell way... also if you dig. Christ. I know what I mean, I just don't have a very good grasp of the English language, I suppose.
So I did:
The next day (from my last entry) I visited the largest lava tube on the island, Manjanggul. I took a taxi there since I didn't feel like negotiating the buses on a rainy day. Bad idea, it cost me a fortune. Basically over a typical day's expenses. Lesson learned. The cabbie did get me an English guide for the tube so it's not all bad. He was a rad old man and fun to talk to. I learnt all about lava-flow and I will quickly un-learn it soon enough. Tried to take pictures but, who would have thunk it, they didn't turn out in the gloom. Picture a big stone tunnel with a few lights, some ridgey bits and drippy-drops on your noggin.
I planned to check out a hedge maze afterward but the guide insisted on driving me to my bus stop. He didn't seem to get that two kilometers really wasn't much to me. Ah well, I stayed relatively dry and had an escort on the bus to my next stop. No biggie. I'll try one of those mazes some day.
Next was a museum in Jeju City. Basically the history of the formation of the volcanic island, the natural flora and fauna as well as some folk history. It was a good way to kill a wet day. Seriously, it was like a hurricane out there; a hurricane that killed the umbrella I borrowed from the hotel (and then left at a bakery, whoops). There was even a small child who took a liking to me and dragged me by the arm to each exhibit while muttering and gesticulating. Later, while walking down the road, their van passed me by with a little body hanging out the window waving a frantic goodbye. Pretty cute.
The next day I felt like a little mountain climbing. Literally. It was a very small mountain in comparison to some I've climbed before. In fact the path is so well maintained that small children can do the climb. There are steps and wooden pathways for the majority of the walk. Despite being a cinch it was very pretty. In the summer it must be amazing as the grasslands on the plateau area is covered with wildflowers. I wish I could have seen that but I'm satisfied with the bushes and plants I did see. At the top (though not the peak, that's a very steep and long climb) it is cold enough for snow to cling to trees. There are little Roe deer grazing on some hills too. I'll add pictures in a while when I feel up to it.
The walk down became more natural and rocky. More fun! The path was along some cliffs with a view of the Southern Jeju island coast and the ocean beyond, seen dimly through a haze. Ambient haze, I calls it. The cliffs were an exciting chaos of craggy, pointy bits with grass growing at random. As I made my way down I also made the accquaintance of a pleasant young fellow. His English name is Jeremiah but I forgot his Korean name immediately. He's an avid hiker and had done the long and difficult course that day. If I wasn't feeling so lazy I would consider doing it too. Anyhow, we went out for supper once we finished the descent and I had my first taste of real Korean food. I've been making my own meals until now. Jeremiah is a funky, outdoorsy, punk-rocker type with sneakers, peircings and some sweet tortoise-shell glasses. He's actually walking around the island like a mini-pilgrimage so he's earned brownie points in my book.
Today I visited Seongang Iichulbong, a volcanic crater at the Eastern-most point of Jeju. It was a quick climb and, yup, looks like a crater with grass and stuff. Pretty enough and worth visiting but Mt. Hallah wins in my books!
I guess a girl is pretty popular around here when she's got a decent rack. I keep getting accosted by groups of young boys who want to take pictures with me. What the hell, I don't mind. On the crater the guy took the picture from a low angle so I knew what he was up to! I'm a perv too so I can't really say much against them. Another older man told me I have a nice face; in fact, in his own words "your face, number one!". This place is good for the self-esteem! LOL, crazy Korean men with bad taste in women. Maybe they like big noses.
I also went to a sort of pioneer village. It was neat to see the traditional homes of the island but I soon realized their architects weren't very original. Every house type looked identical; you know, nothing much has changed in 100 years. That's exactly how they build their apartments... rows and rows of the same model. It's pretty wild to see though. Imagine a building set between two mirrors facing eachother. That's a city skyline in Korea.
I've had enough of this computer poop. My bed awaits and I have some manga reading to do until I pass out mid-sentence.
I'll get over my two month hump, right mummy? You even read this in my cards. Maybe you'll be right about meeting a travel buddy! I hope I'm wrong to disbelieve spirituality and tarot card readings.
